Oct. 29, 2017
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Sunday afternoon, the Vanderbilt women’s tennis team wrapped its lone home fall tennis tournament, the June Stewart Invitational.
For freshmen Lauren Gish and Amanda Meyer, this weekend provided the pair’s first chance to compete in front of a home crowd. With family and friends looking on, the reality of collegiate tennis set in.
The Dores opened the day 4-3 in singles play against Princeton, with juniors Summer Dvorak and Emily Smith going undefeated.
Dvorak, a native of Laguna Beach, Calif., picked up a second consecutive three-set thriller after defeating Princeton’s Kalhorn, 5-7, 6-1, 1-0(7). Smith continued straight-set success, downing the Tiger’s Rodilloso, 6-3, 6-2.
Despite competing while under the weather, Fernanda Contreras played her first singles match since taking home the Dores’ first Riviera/ITA All-American title earlier this month. The native Texan limited her opponent, Shrage, to three games in the first set and capped the matchup with a second-set shutout. Meyer put up a dominant performance against the Tiger’s McKee, 6-1, 6-3.
In tandems, the Commodores went 3-1. The team’s loss came in a hard-fought competition against the Tribe’s Cheng/Goodman, 6-3.
Vandy allowed just four games lost in the final three competitions as Kurtz and Contreras walked away from their match against Stepanova and Tanielian with a shutout win, 6-0.
Meyer and Christina Rosca were locked into their matchup against Thaler/Wuenshner and allowed just one game. The pairing of Payton Robinette and Dvorak executed well Sunday afternoon against Perry/Madson, picking up a 6-3 victory.
Contreras and Rosca will be in Palm Desert, Calif. this upcoming week as part of the 2017 Oracle ITA National Fall Championships, which takes place Nov. 1-5.
Vanderbilt vs. Princeton
Match 1: Steffensen (Prince) def. Kurtz (VU); 5-7, 6-1, 1-0(7)
Match 2: Contreras (VU) def. Shrage (Prince); 6-3, 6-0
Match 3: Popova (Lip) vs. Kalhorn (Prince); 1-6, 6-2, 1-0(4)
Match 4: Meyer (VU) def. McKee (Prince); 6-1, 6-3
Match 5: Dvorak (VU) def. Chen (Prince) 5-7, 6-0, 1-0(4)
Match 6: Pollner (Prince) def. Gish (VU); 6-3, 7-5
Match 7: Smith (VU) def. Rodilloso (Prince); 6-3, 6-2
Match 8: Goodwin (Prince) def. Robinette (VU); 6-1, 6-2
Vanderbilt vs. William & Mary
Kurtz/Contreras (VU) def. Stepanova/ Tanielian (W&M); 6-0
Meyer/Rosca (VU) def. Thaler/Wuenshner (W&M); 6-1
Cheng/Goodman (W&M) de f. Smith/Gish (VU); 6-3
Dvorak/Robinette (VU) def. Perry/Madson (W&M); 6-2
